The Dragon's Pact: A Princess for the Flame

Chapter 5 – Dependent on each other for survival

[Ding! Host has killed 1 deer and 3 Tier 2 Silver Moon Wolves. Due to hostility, system points are halved. Congratulations, host has earned 16 system points.]

The system's notification did little to ease Su Nian's mind, as Anna's face was flushed red, clearly indicating a fever.

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In such a situation, what could a dragon like him do? Go out and search for medicine now?

Su Nian searched his memory, finding only basic combat skills and how to use Dragonbreath. What could be eaten and what couldn't, the rest of his memory was filled with tales of princesses and dragons, and sleeping!

"The Proud Princess and Her Overbearing Dragon King"

"The Soft Princess and Her Black Dragon Groom"

"Tsundere Princess Training Program (Evil Dragon Edition)"

***

What the hell!

What kind of useless dragon is this, with no magic?

Not even one?

Su Nian was on the verge of collapse.

[Ding! Detected that the host has acquired the first batch of system points. Subsystem Shop is now open. Based on the host's current situation, it is recommended to use 10 system points for a special exchange of the herbal medicine Scutellaria Root.]

[Note: This exchange is a special offer. After the exchange, Scutellaria Root will return to its original price of 100 points.]

"Scutellaria Root? Grandpa used to say this was a herbal medicine with antipyretic effects."

Su Nian pondered.

His grandfather lived in the countryside and would occasionally dig up herbs from the mountains to sell. Every summer, Su Nian would visit him.

The old man's greatest joy was showing Su Nian his collection of herbs.

This led Su Nian to have a certain understanding of the effects of common herbal medicines.

But Scutellaria Root is clearly an Earth herb, does this fantasy continent have it too?

Now wasn't the time to think about this. Su Nian suppressed his doubts and silently thought:"System, exchange for Scutellaria Root."

[Ding! Item materialized.]

As soon as the system's voice fell, a white light that only Su Nian could see flashed.

On the ground before him, a bunch of vibrant green herbs appeared, with purple flowers growing on them.

These herbs looked extremely fresh, as if they had just been dug out of the ground.

Su Nian was certain this was the Scutellaria Root he was familiar with, only his grandfather's were dried.

Now another problem arose.

How should Su Nian feed the Scutellaria Root to Anna?

He looked around for a container, but after searching for a while, he only found a pile of useless storybooks and two gold coins.

Truly destitute, a disgrace to dragons!

As time ticked by, Su Nian stopped hesitating. With life at stake, why bother with so many details?

He quickly crawled to the water pool deep in the cave, rinsed the meat bits and blood from his mouth, then picked up the herbs with his mouth and began to chew them.

His teeth were not only dense but also sharp, mixing with dragon saliva to become a good blender, quickly grinding the herbs into a sticky paste.

Muttering an apology, Su Nian gently lifted Anna's face with the back of his dragon claw.

With another claw, he carefully pried open her small mouth, then pressed his dragon mouth directly against hers.

The herbal juice, mixed with bits of the herbs, flowed into her mouth bit by bit.

Though Anna was unconscious, she still swallowed reflexively, allowing the herbs to enter her body and begin to take effect.

Since the medicine had been administered, Su Nian decided to go all out and chewed the berries he had gathered, feeding them to Anna in the same way.

Doing his best and leaving the rest to fate, Su Nian had done everything he could.

He curled up beside Anna, trying to transfer his body heat to her. His large dragon wings, which were already quite wide for Anna, completely covered them, blocking the cold wind blowing in from the cave entrance.

"Drip, drip..."

The sound of sparse water reached his ears, and Su Nian knew it had started to rain heavily outside.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye, and intense pain surged through his body, a feeling of weakness even greater than when he first awoke began to erode Su Nian's nerves.

He couldn't hold on any longer.

Su Nian looked at Anna's information panel, where the status bar's coma debuff was gradually lightening from red, a sign of improvement.

"You have to wake up... My survival depends on you, my SSS!"

This was Su Nian's last thought before his vision went black and he fainted.

***

"So hot, so thirsty..."

Anna trudged through the endless yellow sand.

Her once fair face was now sunburned red, her whole body drenched as if she had just been pulled from water, even her fox tail was stuck together.

The heat and thirst, mixed with illness, gnawed at her nerves.

She knew she was dreaming, but the pain felt all too real, making her suffer immensely.

Just moments ago, she was being chased by a Flame Demon in the Elven Forest, the terrifying Flame Demon crushed her, and before she could even scream, she found herself in a barren desert.

"Someone save me..."

She cried out helplessly, but only a hoarse "ha ha" came from her mouth.

Anna collapsed to the ground, feeling close to death.

Her consciousness began to blur, and she couldn't help but think of her parents, the people in the Elven Forest.

Those beautiful memories were like paintings, yet they were burned to ashes by the demon's flames, torn to shreds by human swords.

The surroundings turned pitch black, with only herself standing in the endless darkness.

A cool breeze blew, and the sound of rain dripped in her ears.

Anna suddenly felt a bitterness in her mouth, some cool liquid flowed down her throat into her stomach, and the burning sensation on her body began to subside.

What was this?

Before Anna could react to her confusion, she tasted sweetness, a refreshing fragrance spreading.

This time she knew, it was sweet berry juice.

The hunger in her stomach made her greedily swallow this hard-won energy.

Was this an illusion?

Anna didn't know, but if she could taste the berries she hadn't had in so long before dying, it was a good ending...

For some reason, Anna suddenly thought of Mr. Dragon. Her fate was already sealed; if she hadn't fallen ill, she might have been sold to a noble of a great nation as a plaything.

Now, afflicted with a malady, she was bought by the king of this small country to be used as bait.

Her end was death, no matter what.

Though Mr. Dragon had abducted her, he hadn't eaten her, and when she was cold, he covered her with bear fur.

Mr. Dragon gave her the last warmth.

It wasn't like the stories her elders and deceased relatives had told her.

At least the Mr. Dragon she met was gentle.

Too bad she wouldn't have the chance to repay him.

Anna's thoughts wandered as her consciousness gradually faded...

Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan